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Multnomah County warns of $87 million SHS funding gap as Metro warns tax remains volatile
Summary
County staff told commissioners that supportive housing services carryover is nearly exhausted and Antoinette, HSD finance director, projects a roughly $87 million (about 20%) drop from the FY26 revised budget to FY27 funding; staff said the requested budget will be published Feb. 13 and emphasized tying KPIs to actual funded levels.
Multnomah County officials told the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday that the county faces a substantial funding shortfall for supportive housing services (SHS) in fiscal year 2027.
Anna Plumb, interim director of the Homeless Services Department, said the county spent most one‑time carryover funding accumulated during the pandemic and 2024 program ramp‑ups, leaving primarily ongoing resources that she said are not sufficient to sustain the existing system into FY27. "The short story is we're going to have a revenue gap," Plumb said.
The department's finance director, Antoinette, presented a discrete funding projection: staff are estimating an $87,000,000 difference between the FY26 revised budget ($334,000,000) and projected FY27 funding of about $247,000,000. Antoinette cautioned the number could change as the budget process progresses and said final figures will be published in the county's requested budget on Feb. 13.
Metro also briefed the board immediately before the HSD update. Josh Harwood, who leads Metro's revenue and analytics work, said the new housing services tax remains concentrated and therefore volatile: "In October, we got…
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